Fireplace Scary Tales 2
by Orange Ratchet
Summary: Another Friday has come, which means time for more scary stories as Phoebe, Sid and Rhonda take their turns at telling some brand new stories! Which of these new stories will scare people out of their wits?
1. Prologue

All right, I am aware this isn't Halloween, but I wanted to do another one of these and figured, hey, maybe I can make this a bi-yearly thing! So here comes the prologue for yet another "Fireplace Scary Tales"! Anyway, enjoy!

* * *

It had been at least one week since Arnold and Gerald had invited all the kids in the neighborhood in the backyard to tell scary stories. Ever since he, Gerald and Helga (through random selection) had told their scary stories, all the kids were trying to figure out new stories to tell, really excited to tell the tales. While there were some ideas that got stuck with the kids, the kids who didn't think up any ideas decided they'd improvise as the stories went along. And thus...

When next Friday came around, almost all the students of the PS 118 fourth grade sat down and got comfortable as Helga, as per usual, was the last one inside.

"All right, scoot over!" Helga ordered as Phoebe scooted over a bit as Helga sat down. "Let's hope whatever stories you guys can come up with scare the living heck out of us!"

"Be patient, Helga. We still have to wait for Arnold to start us off." Phoebe smiled.

"Oh man, I can't wait for my turn!" Harold said, shuffling his hands. "I got a really good story that I want to tell!"

"Same!" Sid smiled. "I just hope Arnold has me randomly selected!"

"Please, if anything, my name has the most likely to appear." Rhonda said, looking at the mirror.

"You have a story?" Nadine asked in surprise.

"Not yet, but I'll think of something." Rhonda said, looking down.

"You know, where is that little football head anyway?" Helga said, looking around. "You'd think he'd be on time for this sort of thing..."

All of a sudden, the lights around the boarding house went off as Helga turned, expecting Arnold to suddenly appear next to her. Much to everyone's surprise, as the fire lit up, this time, Arnold's head, appeared, which looked like it was bleeding. Everyone screamed bloody murder.

"OH GOD! HE'S DEAD!" Lila screeched, holding Lorenzo for her dear life.

"Greetings..." Arnold moaned... as he popped up and sat down between Lorenzo and Tucker, making everyone stare in disbelief. "...and welcome, everybody."

"Jesus, Arnold, you gave us all heart attacks!" Sheena frowned.

"Yeah, we thought you got beheaded!" Eugene complained.

"Don't worry." Arnold smiled as he dipped his fingers on his still attached neck, taking the red stuff up. "It's just regular hot sauce. Grandma's idea."

"Yeah..." Gerald said, sitting down with them, holding the hat.

"...Okay, so I see we got some new fourth graders here... so I'll catch you up on the rules, in case you either weren't paying attention or just weren't there." Arnold said.

"Yeah, I heard about this whole 'Scary Story Telling' at your house thing and got curious." Tucker said.

"Well, glad to see you're curious. Now, the rules. Every Friday night of every week, I will select three people at random from the hat Gerald is holding and whoever is selected, must tell a scary story! There is a limit to how scary you can make it, you can do downright horror, science fiction, whatever, just have the story as a bit of a 'horror' edge." Arnold explained.

"Sounds fair, amigo." Lorenzo nodded.

"All right, I hope you either have a story ready, or if I select your name and you didn't have a story prepared, then... make up a good one as long as it's horror based." Arnold said as Gerald shook the hat up and down. "All right, let's select our first player..."

Arnold then put his hand in the papers and pulled out a name. "Our first storyteller tonight is... Phoebe Heyerdahl."

Phoebe giggled. "I thought this might happen, so I thought up a good story!"

Everyone turned to Phoebe as Helga raised an eyebrow, asking, "You have my interest..."

"Very well... though this is more of a science fiction story, you'll see what the 'horrors' are as we go along... but don't worry... we have all the 'time' in the world." Phoebe smirked.

"A time travel story..." Rhonda sighed as everyone listened closely towards Phoebe. "...why am I not surprised?"

* * *

And that's the prologue for this story! How did you like it? Yes, I am aware that, once again, this prologue is pretty short, but as we go along, the stories will become longer than usual. So, hopefully, you all have an eye on this story in interest. Like I said, I wanted to do another 'Fireplace Scary Tales', and even though it's not the right season for scary tales... I figured... spring and summer, good time for camping, and camping equals scary tales, so... screw it, let's do another one! Next chapter will be Phoebe's story! Anyway, read, review, criticize and suggest, folks!


	2. Right Place at the Wrong Time

I didn't think I would get back to this story, but it's appropriate for Halloween... and that's right, I'm going back to Fireplace Scary Tales! Let's get started with Phoebe's story, shall we? Anyway, enjoy!

* * *

 **PHOEBE'S STORY: BEING IN THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE WRONG TIME**

 _"They say that time is of essence and of very utmost importance... but tamper with time, and you'll soon be missing something important in your life... that would be a lesson our main character would probably never learn..."_

Over at Phoebe's house, Helga and Phoebe were sitting around together, eating some sandwiches Phoebe's mother had made just for the two as they were looking at their homework. Phoebe paused as she looked over at Helga. "Helga, could you pass me that magazine over there? I'll need to some cut and paste for the letters on our diagram."

"Eh, sure thing, Pheebs." Helga said as she picked up the magazine and handed it to Phoebe. Phoebe gave a quick nod as she flipped through the magazine quickly. Helga rolled her eyes. "Come on, Four-Eyes, just pick a page and stick with it!"

"Patience, Helga. Finding the right letters takes some time..." Phoebe said as she stopped by an ad. "Here it is."

Helga looked over and chuckled as she noticed what the ad was on. "Morpher Bots? What do they morph into, better glasses?"

Phoebe glared at Helga as she said, "Oh really? Well, I bet... uh, that... hmmm... your bow... isn't the... best... bow... in the... world?"

Helga clicked her tongue as she said, "Dear, sweet Phoebe... the most adorable person in the world, but cannot make a comeback to save her life."

Phoebe furiously blushed as Helga chuckled.

 _"Selling yourself out a little much, eh, Pheebs?" Helga asked, turning to Phoebe._

 _"Well, she IS right about being the most adorable thing in the universe. Have you seen what she can do with her eyes in her private times?" Rhonda asked._

 _"As I was saying..." Phoebe gritted her teeth a bit._

* * *

Later that day, Phoebe was furiously working on something in her room as she sighed. "Helga's right. I can never make a comeback to her until I actually think up a good one... and even if I do, we're already past that point... ugh, it doesn't matter anymore... if I can do this right..."

Phoebe smiled as she put the finishing touch... a drop of mercury on a spare set of glasses... along with the dial. "Finally... after a couple of years of research... my time travel glasses are finally complete! But I better give these a test run... just in case."

With that, Phoebe tossed aside her old glasses and put on the new glasses as she coughed, turning the dial backwards four times, smirking to herself. The next thing she knew... everything around her started to go in reverse... the sun that was originally setting was now going up, and even Phoebe felt her legs getting up and going in reverse... as everything zoomed, changing around her... eventually, everything slowed down... right up to the moment when Phoebe sat her butt on the table. She blinked as she looked around. There was Helga, right next to her... and there was the diorama that was complete... or, well, would be complete. Phoebe paused as she turned to Helga.

"Hey, Helga... what time is it?" Phoebe asked.

Helga, raising her eyebrow at this strange question, looked over to the microwave clock. "Er... quarter to four."

"Success!" Phoebe whispered to herself.

 _"Wait, wait, wait... you invented time travel goggles that can move backward or forward in time... and your consciousness just happens to move along with your body as it travels?" Gerald asked._

 _"Time travel is complicated, I know, but just bare with me on this one." Phoebe sighed._

Phoebe then smirked as she said, "Helga, could you pass me that magazine over there? I'll need to some cut and paste for the letters on our diagram."

"Eh, sure thing, Pheebs." Helga said as she picked up the magazine and handed it to Phoebe. Phoebe once again gave a quick nod as she flipped through the magazine quickly. Helga rolled her eyes. "Come on, Four-Eyes, just pick a page and stick with it!"

"Patience, Helga. Finding the right letters takes some time..." Phoebe said as she stopped by an ad. "Here it is."

Helga looked over and chuckled as she noticed what the ad was on. "Morpher Bots? What do they morph into, better glasses?"

Phoebe smirked, this time, thinking of a good zinger. "What's the matter, Helga, your masculine side showing off for those robots?"

Helga opened her mouth... and found herself in shock. "Uh... wow. I... have no words for that... did you just zing me?"

"I think I just did... zing!" Phoebe giggled as Helga raised an eyebrow in surprise.

 _"What's so scary about using time travel goggles to go back and use zingers on me? So far, that's not scary." Helga frowned._

 _"Wait and see, Helga. Sometimes, stories start best with exposition." Arnold said._

* * *

Phoebe paused as she examined her glasses, about an hour or so later after Helga had left, still shocked and confused. As for Phoebe herself, she smiled as she said, "I consider this a success... if I do say so myself..."

Phoebe paused as she was ready to put the time travel glasses aside... before pausing. "You know... if I just bested Helga in this... I bet I could go back further and mess with other people's plans in other times!"

 _"Ouch. I feel the love." Helga frowned, glaring at Phoebe._

 _"Helga, you know it's only a story, right?" Phoebe rolled her eyes. "Besides, I'm not even referring to you..."_

So, with that idea in her head, Phoebe smirked as she put the time travel goggles on and started to push the dial backward... having a devious idea to have some fun.

* * *

 **MONTHS AGO...**

"Okay... the coast is clear." Arnold whispered as he and the other fourth graders were attempting to sneak out, hoping to avoid the fifth graders. The only one who was smirking to herself was Phoebe, who had smirked to herself.

And right on cue... were the fifth graders, that had just surrounded the fourth graders. Wolfgang smirked as he said, "Well, well... time for Trash Day!"

Phoebe smirked as she pushed a button on a walkie talkie. "Go!"

All of a sudden, before anyone could make a move, windows started slamming open as FBI agents came pouring in, the fifth graders and fourth graders looking confused... before the FBI agents slammed down Wolfgang.

"We got him, men! Keep him down!" The lead FBI agent said.

"Wh-what's the meaning of this?" Wolfgang stammered in shock... then growled as he started to struggle. "L-let go of me this instan-"

One of the FBI agents then pulled out a taser and electrocuted the fifth grader, causing him to fall down. The FBI agents nodded as the leader motioned for Wolfgang to be cuffed and taken away. As Wolfgang was dragged off, the fifth graders and fourth graders stared in utter silence.

"Uh..." Arnold had no words for that moment.

"I match those words exactly." Helga said.

"Does this mean Trash Day is off?" Edmund said in confusion, pondering what had just happened.

Phoebe, on the other hand, smirked. She was thankful she had made that call to the FBI during recess to attempt to get Wolfgang behind bars.

 _"I bet we all could wish that." Harold laughed._

* * *

 **MONTHS LATER**

Phoebe came back and smiled to herself as she had came back to her proper time, once she adjusted her time travel glasses. "There we go... sure, Wolfgang will probably be angry for this, but hey, at least I stopped Trash Day from ever occurring..."

Phoebe yawned as she started to get ready for bed... tomorrow was going to be another day...

* * *

The next morning, as Phoebe yawned and got up, she stretched as she put on her glasses. "Ah... another day... another part of the daily grind..."

Phoebe then got up as she pulled the curtains to her windows opened. "The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, fifth graders are patrolling the streets... wait, what?"

Phoebe's eyes widened as she examined the street she was living in through the window.

Indeed, many fifth graders were patrolling the streets, each with guns in hand. Phoebe then noticed a scared fourth grader trying to make his way to school... but not before one of the fifth graders caught him in sight. "FREEZE!"

Park yelped as he turned to the fifth grader holding the gun. "Mayor Wolfgang wants to see you here..."

"Mayor... Wolfgang?" Phoebe said in worry as she put on her time travel glasses, to make sure she wasn't seeing things... it was then she heard something beeping. She noticed a large TV screen near her room as she asked, "Where did that come from?"

Curious, Phoebe pushed a button... as picture feed of Helga wearing an eyepatch and a brown trenchcoat came on. "Agent Pheebs, I'm glad I found you!"

"Helga?" Phoebe asked. "Wh-what's going on here? What is happening?"

"Sheesh, you get up on the wrong side of the bed this morning? Our new mayor has gone corrupt and is using his source of power to humiliate all fourth graders and won't stop until he finds the one who arrested him that day... and with us on the opposite side of the law, we can't risk that!" Helga said in worry. "Agent Arnold, bless his soul, has already been taken down! It'll only be a matter of time before the man breaks and tells everyone about the resistance!"

"Resistance?" Phoebe said in worry as her eyes widened in shock as she thought to herself, "Could this be because of my little practical joke on Wolfgang?"

 _"Pheebs, if calling the FBI on Wolfgang was a practical joke to you, I would HATE to see what you would do to lethally kill him!" Helga said._

 _"I don't know, sounds like my type of thing!" Curly smiled._

"I need you to get down to headquarters bef-" Helga started... before hearing a door busting in... and yelping. "Crap, they found me! We don't have much time! Pheebs, save yours-"

THe monitor then switched off as Phoebe yelped. "Oh my gosh, if one good deed can lead to bad consequences... I better fix this now!"

Quickly, Phoebe started to turn the dial on her glasses and started to go back in time...

* * *

 **MONTHS AGO...**

She sighed in relief as she found herself back in the day she prevented Trash Day from happening. Phoebe paused as she noticed the others still talking about a plan on how to get past the fifth graders. Phoebe paused as she thought to herself. "Okay, calling the FBI is a no go... but maybe I can call... somebody else... hmmm..."

* * *

"You know, this IS a serious matter, isn't it?" Principal Wartz said as he was talking with Phoebe.

"Yes sir. And the worst part is, no adult would stop this heinous thing from occurring! I mean, come on, schools aren't supposed to condone bullying in school, right?" Phoebe pointed out.

Wartz paused as he put a finger to his hand. "Tell you what, I'll have a talk with the fifth grade teachers at their lunch period and have them reminded that they should show a little more discipline to their students."

"Yes, thank you! We need to make sure no fourth grader gets dumped into a garbage can ever!" Phoebe said. "Your school wouldn't want to be known as the school that promotes bullying."

"Of course, of course!" Principal Wartz nodded as he wrote it down. "Well, thank you for giving me this information. I'll make sure something is done about it!"

Phoebe smiled as she got up. "Much obliged."

As Phoebe started to get out of the room, she snickered as she turned the dial on her glasses, fast-forwarding her back to her proper time.

* * *

 **MONTHS LATER...**

Phoebe paused as she was back to her own time. She then noticed her room looked fairly normal... no large TV in sight. The Asian girl then looked worried as she reached for an encyclopedia on Hillwood's recent history. She quickly looked over and noticed something on the Mayor as she read it... she smiled as she noticed that the current mayor was still mayor... so everything seemed safe.

She opened the curtains of her windows to be sure... but as she looked around, her eyes widened in shock... everywhere in Hillwood, piles of trash had been piling up... and the smell of rotting trash came to her nostrils as she repulsed in disgust.

"What happened to this place?" Phoebe whispered to herself. Quickly, she ran out... but getting repulsed by the smell, she stepped backward. She then quickly noticed a gas mask nearby and grabbed it, putting it over her face. She slowly walked out, gas mask on her face as she started to walk down the street, looking around in horror at the many piles of trash being piled around. Eventually, she found another person wearing a gas mask, and that person looked familiar. "Gerald? Is that you?"

"Phoebe, hey!" Gerald said from behind his gas mask.

"What's going on? Why is Hillwood covered in trash?" Phoebe asked.

"Don't you remember? It all began when Trash Day was supposed to occur in school... however, before school got dismissed, an announcement was made that the fifth graders would be held back if their bullying on anybody kept getting encouraged." Gerald explained.

"And that's a good thing... right?" Phoebe asked in concern.

"It should be..." Gerald groaned. "If a new law in Hillwood stating the ban of trash cans hadn't passed months ago..."

"Why would they do this?" Phoebe said in worry.

"Beats me... but whoever caused this ban of trash cans around the city... caused most people to move out... I don't even think I can live in a city that welcomes trash anymore..." Gerald said as he walked past her.

Phoebe just stood in worry as she started to run back home.

"All right... no FBI, no telling the principal... maybe I can try something else!" Phoebe said in worry as she ran back home.

She sighed as she shut the door quickly and took off the mask and slammed it down on the table... which unfortunately, knocked the time travel glasses right off the table. Phoebe yelped as she... quickly grabbed them before they hit the floor. Phoebe smiled as she looked at her undamaged glasses. "Phew... for a moment, I thought they would..."

Phoebe then noticed something odd as she put on her regular glasses... her eyes widened in shock as the time travel glasses started to melt. She gasped in horror. "No! NO! NO NO NO! The time travel glasses can't be melting now! The mercury must have made it unstable after a few times' use! And that was the only source of mercury that I could get! I can't go back and fix it! I can't go back and fix it..."

Phoebe kneeled down as she sniffled, looking down, realizing she had failed her mission...

* * *

 **IN THE REAL WORLD...**

"And thus, the moral of the story is to never tamper with anything in time. You never know what you might change..." Phoebe said mysteriously as she gave a cackle.

Everyone just stared at her blankly for a few moments... as Arnold quickly said, "Phoebe, nothing personal, but how would a world where trash cans are banned be scary?"

"Oh, I don't know, Football Head." Helga paused. "Without garbage cans, we wouldn't be able to put our garbage inside..."

"A good try, my main girl." Gerald smiled towards the blushing Phoebe. "But we'll see if it still holds up after our next story."

"I thought it was pretty good." Lorenzo pointed out as Gerald shook the bowl of names around.

"Let's see who's next, shall we?" Arnold smiled as he reached into the bowl and pulled out a name. He looked it over and smiled. "Well, well, well... seems like our lucky volunteer to tell our next story... is our very own Sid."

"Oh, you mean it?" Sid's eyes brightened in excitement. "Because I got the perfect story in mind already!"

"Golly, Sid, you've had it in mind for a while?" Stinky asked.

Sid nodded. "Like Phoebe's idea about tampering with time... let's see what happens if someone tries to tamper with the power... of magic..."

"Well, this oughta be good!" Tucker smiled as he held Nadine's hand.

* * *

Well, surprised to see this back? Well, I know I am! Don't worry, this will be updated throughout November, so keep an eye out on this one! Anyway, read, review, criticize and suggest, folks!


End file.
